Hollow board cooling apparatus

ABSTRACT

A hollow board cooling apparatus is for cooling a formed hollow board and includes first and second cooling devices, a coolant-circulating device, and a temperature-controlling unit. Each of the first and second cooling devices has a main body, a cooling channel extending through the main body to form inlet and outlet openings for passage of the hollow board, and a coolant channel formed in the main body. The coolant-circulating device introduces a coolant into the coolant channels via coolant inlets, and retrieves the coolant therefrom via coolant outlets. The temperature-controlling unit controls the coolant-circulating device to cool the coolant when the board temperature is higher than a reference temperature.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a cooling apparatus, more particularly to ahollow board cooling apparatus.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, a hollow board formed by an extruder will be transportedby a transporting mechanism to a cooling device for cooling until aboard temperature of the hollow board is lower than a targettemperature. However, a cooling temperature of the cooling device isusually set to be relatively low and at a constant value so as to assurethat different hollow boards manufactured under various manufacturingparameters, such as board thickness, transporting speed, ambienttemperature, etc., can be cooled enough to reach the target temperature.Such setting of the temperature of the cooling device inevitably resultsin energy loss and thus increases the manufacturing costs.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a hollow boardcooling apparatus that can alleviate at least one of the drawbacks ofthe prior art.

According to the disclosure, a hollow board cooling apparatus adaptedfor cooling a formed hollow boa rd which is transported in a transportdirection may be provided. Such a hollow board cooling apparatus mayinclude a first cooling device, a second cooling device, acoolant-circulating device, and a temperature-controlling unit. Thesecond cooling device is disposed downstream of the first cooling devicein the transport direction and is spaced apart from the first coolingdevice. Each of the first and second cooling devices has a main bodythat is substantially board-shaped, a cooling channel that extendsthrough the main body to form an inlet opening and an outlet opening forpassage of the formed hollow board therethrough, a coolant inlet that isformed in an outer surface of the main body, a coolant outlet that isformed in the outer surface of the main body, and a coolant channel thatis formed in the main body and that is in fluid communication with thecoolant inlet and the coolant outlet. The coolant-circulating deviceintroduces a coolant into the coolant channels of the first and secondcooling devices via the coolant inlets for cooling the formed hollowboard, and retrieves the coolant from the coolant channels via thecoolant outlets for recycling the coolant. The temperature-controllingunit is configured to generate an upper-limit reference temperature, todetect a board temperature of a section of the formed hollow boardlocated between the first and second cooling devices, and to control thecoolant-circulating device to cool the coolant when the detected boardtemperature is higher than the upper-limit reference temperature.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent inthe following detailed description of the embodiment (s) with referenceto the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an exemplary embodiment of ahollow board cooling apparatus according to the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1,illustrating the exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 3 is schematic block diagram of the exemplary embodimentillustrating a temperature-controlling unit and a coolant-circulatingdevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, one exemplary embodiment of a hollow boardcooling apparatus, which is adapted for cooling a formed hollow board 10transported in a transport direction, is shown to include a firstcooling device 1, a second cooling device 2 disposed downstream of thefirst cooling device 1, a coolant-circulating device 3, and atemperature-controlling unit 4.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, each of the first and second cooling devices1, 2 has a main body 11, 21 that is substantially board-shaped, acooling channel 14, 24 that extends through the main body 11, 21 to forman inlet opening 12, 22 and an outlet opening 13, 23 for passage of theformed hollow board 10 along the transport direction, a pair of coolantinlets 15, 25 that are formed in an outer surface of the main body 11,21, a pair of coolant outlets 16, 26 that are formed in the outersurface of the main body 11, 21, and a plurality of coolant channels 17,27 that are correspondingly formed in the main body 11, 21 and that arein fluid communication with the coolant inlets 15, 25 and the coolantoutlets 16, 26, correspondingly. It should be noted that the number ofthe coolant inlets 15, 25, of the coolant outlets 16, 26, and of thecoolant channels 17, 27 are not limited herein, that is, to have onesingle coolant inlet 15, 25, one single coolant outlet 16, 26, and/orone single coolant channel 17, 27 for each of the first and secondcooling devices 1, 2 may also suffice according to the presentdisclosure. In this embodiment, for each of the first and second coolingdevices 1, 2, the coolant inlets 15, 25 and the coolant outlets 16, 26are respectively formed in two opposite surface portions of the topsurface of the main body 11, 21. Moreover, for each of the first andsecond cooling devices 1, 2, the coolant inlets 15, 25 are disposed awayfrom the coolant-circulating device 3, and the coolant outlets 16, 26are disposed adjacent to the coolant-circulating device 3 in thisembodiment as shown in FIG. 1.

The coolant-circulating device 3 may introduce a coolant 31 into thecoolant channels 17, 27 of the first and second cooling devices 1, 2 viathe coolant inlets 15, 25 for cooling the formed hollow board 10, andmay retrieve the coolant 31 from the coolant channels 17, 27 via thecoolant outlets 16, 26 for recycling the coolant 31 along the directionsindicated by arrows illustrated in FIG. 1.

With reference to FIG. 3, the temperature-controlling unit 4 of thisembodiment is configured to generate an upper-limit referencetemperature (T_(H)), to detect a board temperature of a section of theformed hollow board 10 located between the first and second coolingdevices 1, 2, and to control the coolant-circulating device 3 to coolthe coolant 31 when the detected board temperature is higher than anupper-limit reference temperature (T_(H)). The temperature-controllingunit 4 may include one or more temperature detectors 41 (three detectorsare shown in FIG. 1) that are disposed adjacent to the inlet opening 22of the second cooling device 2 for detecting the board temperature ofthe formed hollow board 10, and a comparator 43 that is electricallycoupled to the temperature detectors 41 for receiving the detected boardtemperature therefrom and that is operable to compare the boardtemperature with the upper-limit reference temperature (T_(H)). In thisembodiment, the coolant-circulating device 3 may be operable to heat thecoolant, and the temperature-controlling unit 4 is operable to furthercompare the detected board temperature with a lower-limit referencetemperature (T_(L)) and is operable to drive the coolant-circulatingdevice 3 to heat the coolant 31 when the board temperature is lower thanthe lower-limit reference temperature (T_(L)). It should be noted that,the temperature-controlling unit 4 of this embodiment may furtherinclude a reference temperature-generating module 42 for generating theupper-limit and lower-limit reference temperatures (T_(H)), (T_(L)).Such a reference temperature-generating module 42 may be configured todetect manufacturing parameters of the formed hollow board 10, such as athickness of the hollow board 10, a transporting speed of the hollowboard 10 and an ambient temperature, and to adjust the upper-limit andlower-limit reference temperatures (T_(H)), (T_(L)) based on thecorresponding detected values. It is worth noting that suchmanufacturing parameters may be diverse, e.g., the thickness of thehollow board 10 usually ranges from 2 mm to 10 mm, and the transportingspeed usually ranges from 5 m/min to 15 m/min. In other words, based onvarious manufacturing parameters of the hollow board 10, the upper-limitand lower-limit reference temperatures (T_(H)), (T_(L)) may be adjustedaccordingly so as to be efficient in terms of energy consumption.

It is also worth noting that, when multiple temperature detectors 41 areincorporated into the temperature-controlling unit 4, the boardtemperature detected by each temperature detector 41 may vary. Undersuch condition, the comparator 43 may perform an operation on thedetected board temperatures to obtain an equivalent board temperature(T_(PP)) and compare the equivalent board temperature (T_(PP)) witheither one or both of the upper-limit and lower-limit referencetemperatures (T_(H)), (T_(L)).

The hollow board cooling apparatus of the present disclosure hasadvantages as follows:

(1) The temperature-controlling unit 4 may control thecoolant-circulating device 3 to cool the coolant 31 when the boardtemperature is higher than the upper-limit reference temperature or toheat the coolant when the board temperature is lower than thelower-limit reference temperature, thereby allowing the hollow boardcooling apparatus to be relatively efficient in terms of energyconsumption.

(2) The temperature-controlling unit 4 may be configured to detect theboard thickness, the transporting speed, and/or the ambient temperatureand to adjust the upper-limit and lower-limit reference temperatures(T_(H)), (T_(L)) based thereon, allowing the hollow board coolingapparatus of the present disclosure to be efficient in terms of energyconsumption during various manufacturing processes.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details have been set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiment(s). It will be apparent, however, to oneskilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practicedwithout some of these specific details. It should also be appreciatedthat reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number andso forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristicmay be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be furtherappreciated that in the description, various features are sometimesgrouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereoffor the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in theunderstanding of various inventive aspects.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is (are)considered the exemplary embodiment(s), it is understood that thisdisclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment(s) but is intendedto cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope ofthe broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modificationsand equivalent arrangements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hollow board cooling apparatus adapted forcooling a formed hollow board which is transported in a transportdirection, comprising: a first cooling device; a second cooling devicedisposed downstream of said first cooling device in the transportdirection and spaced-apart from said first cooling device, each of saidfirst and second cooling devices having a main body that issubstantially board-shaped, a cooling channel that extends through saidmain body to form an inlet opening and an outlet opening for passage ofthe formed hollow board therethrough, a coolant inlet that is formed inan outer surface of said main body, a coolant outlet that is formed insaid outer surface of said main body, a coolant channel that is formedin said main body and that is in fluid communication with said coolantinlet and said coolant outlet; a coolant-circulating device introducinga coolant into said coolant channels of said first and second coolingdevices via said coolant inlets for cooling the formed hollow board, andretrieving the coolant from said coolant channels via said coolantoutlets for recycling the coolant; and a temperature-controlling unitconfigured to generate an upper-limit reference temperature, to detect aboard temperature of a section of the formed hollow board locatedbetween said first and second cooling devices, and to control saidcoolant-circulating device to cool the coolant when the detected boardtemperature is higher than the upper-limit reference temperature.
 2. Thehollow board cooling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidtemperature-controlling unit includes a temperature detector fordetecting the board temperature of the formed hollow board, and acomparator that is electrically coupled to said temperature detector forreceiving the detected board temperature therefrom and that is operableto compare the board temperature with the upper-limit referencetemperature.
 3. The hollow board cooling apparatus according to claim 2,wherein said temperature detector is disposed adjacent to said inletopening of said second cooling device.
 4. The hollow board coolingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein said coolant-circulating deviceis operable to heat the coolant, and said temperature-controlling unitis operable to further compare the board temperature with a lower-limitreference temperature and is operable to drive said coolant-circulatingdevice to heat the coolant when the board temperature is lower than thelower-limit reference temperature.
 5. The hollow board cooling apparatusaccording to claim 4, wherein said temperature-controlling unit isconfigured to detect a thickness of the hollow board and is operable toadjust the upper-limit and lower-limit reference temperatures based onthe detected thickness.
 6. The hollow board cooling apparatus accordingto claim 4, wherein said temperature-controlling unit is configured todetect a transporting speed of the hollow board along the transportdirection and is operable to adjust the upper-limit and lower-limitreference temperatures based on the detected transporting speed.
 7. Thehollow board cooling apparatus according to claim 4, wherein saidtemperature-controlling unit is configured to detect an ambienttemperature and is operable to adjust the upper-limit and lower-limitreference temperatures based on the detected ambient temperature.
 8. Thehollow board cooling apparatus according to claim 5, wherein saidtemperature-controlling unit further includes a referencetemperature-generating module for generating said upper-limit andlower-limit reference temperatures.
 9. The hollow board coolingapparatus according to claim 8, wherein, for each of said first andsecond cooling devices, said coolant inlet and said coolant outlet arerespectively formed in two opposite surface portions of a top surface ofsaid main body.
 10. The hollow board cooling apparatus according toclaim 9, wherein, for each of said first and second cooling devices,said coolant inlet is disposed away from said coolant-circulatingdevice, and said coolant outlet is disposed adjacent to saidcoolant-circulating device.